H.A.M.M.E.R. (Earth-616)
The ramifications of the alien Skrulls' secret invasion of Earth forced a massive restructuring of the United States' defense network. At the time, the country's primary peace keeping agency was S.H.I.E.L.D., led by civilian industrialist Tony Stark, aka, Iron Man. Because the Skrulls were able to compromise S.H.I.E.L.D.'s StarkTech technology, it was decided that S.H.I.E.L.D. was no longer an effective organization and Tony Stark was personally held accountable for not preparing adequately for the Skrull invasion. In the wake of this controversy, Thunderbolts leader Norman Osborn manipulated the U.S. government into allowing him to serve as director of a replacement agency called H.A.M.M.E.R. Under Osborn's leadership, H.A.M.M.E.R. had administrative control over the entire 50-State Initiative. As the director H.A.M.M.E.R., one of Osborn's first initiatives was to issue warrants, demanding the arrest of former S.H.I.E.L.D. directors Tony Stark and deputy director Maria Hill. Moreover, Osborn wanted access to the database containing the identities of every hero registered under the Superhuman Registration Act. To prevent Osborn from getting his hands on such vital information, Tony Stark took measures to erase all known resources containing this sensitive information, including his own mind. When Stark failed to surrender himself to Osborn, Norman sent contingents of H.A.M.M.E.R. squads to Stark Industries facilities all across the globe with orders to arrest Tony Stark with extreme prejudice. The militant agents caused substantial damage in their efforts to find Stark, often brutalizing Stark Industries' personnel. In an effort to make H.A.M.M.E.R.'s image more palatable to the general public, Osborn reorganized the Avengers, filling their ranks with members of the Thunderbolts. Two previous members of the team who remained on Osborn's Avengers were the Sentry and Ares, the God of War. Osborn himself donned his own suit of armor (based upon Stark's designs) and became known as the Iron Patriot. Other super-powered agents employed by H.A.M.M.E.R. included the Headsman, the Ghost, Ant-Man and Yelena Belova - the second Black Widow. These agents were instructed to track down and assassinate a particular thorn in Osborn's side - Deadpool. During the siege of Asgard, H.A.M.M.E.R. lead the attack on Asgard without U.S. permission. Many H.A.M.M.E.R. agents were killed in the battle and their Helicarrier was damaged by U.S military forces, on orders from the President for treason. Shortly afterword their leader Norman Osborn was finally defeated by the Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. was dissolved. Return H.A.M.M.E.R. has recently reappeared as a criminal organization under the leadership of Superia. But was shutdown by the New Avengers. After Norman Osborn escaped from prison along with Superia, they reformed H.A.M.M.E.R. with the alliance of The Hand, A.I.M and the remnants of Hydra . Norman Osborn was ultimately defeated by the combined efforts of the Avengers and New Avengers and H.A.M.M.E.R. was disbanded, the remaining agents reinforced Hydra . Members Perry (H.A.M.M.E.R.) (Earth-616) Agent Perry told Commander Osborn that some kind of virus had infiltrated the H.A.M.M.E.R. systems. Steve (H.A.M.M.E.R.) (Earth-616) Steve was knocked out by Maria Hill. | Equipment = | Transportation = None; formerly Helicarrier | Weapons = | Notes = * According to Norman Osborn, he didn't apply an acronym to the name H.A.M.M.E.R. He assigned his assistant Victoria Hand that task of defining what H.A.M.M.E.R. actually stood for , although it has never been revealed what the real name of the organization is. | Trivia = | Links = }} Category:X-Men Villains Category:Avengers Villains Category:Captain America Villains Category:Iron Man Villains Category:Hulk Villains Category:Wolverine Villains Category:Spider-Man Villains Category:Carol Danvers Villains